Black Authors

Great reads by Black authors.

Updated March 19, 2024
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1

The undefeated
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
Winner of the 2020 Caldecott Medal A 2020 Newbery Honor Book Winner of the 2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award The Newbery Award-winning author of THE CROSSOVER pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time...
Also available in eBook format.

2

Inheritance : [online electronic book] a visual poem.
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Ebook
They tell me to "fix" my hair. And by fix, they mean straighten, they mean whiten; but how do you fix this shipwrecked history of hair? In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpré-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the...
Also available in eBook format.

3

The Night Piece: Collected Short Fiction
Alexis, Andre
Paper Book
A career-spanning collection of stories from the author of Fifteen Dogs, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and Canada Reads. Vivid, profound, moving, and with moments of sly humour, the stories in The Night Piece reveal...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

4

Black girls must die exhausted.
Allen, Jayne, 1978-
Paper Book
"It's a good thing that this is only the first book of a trilogy, because after getting to know Tabitha, you won't want to leave her at the end. . . . Written intimately as if you're peering into the mind of a close friend, this book is a true testament to the stresses on women today and how...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

5

Theory
Brand, Dionne
Paper Book
A smart, sensual and witty novel about what happens when love and intellect are set on a collision course. This compact tour de force affirms Dionne Brand's place as one of Canada's most dazzling and influential artists. Theory begins as its narrator sets out, like many a...
Canadian author.

6

Between the world and me
Coates, Ta-Nehisi.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NAMED ONE OF TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST * ONE OF OPRAH'S "BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH" * NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT...
Also available in Audiobook, eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

7

The vanishing half.
Bennett, Brit
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE * VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR New York Times<...

Des jumelles inseparables choisissent de vivre dans deux mondes etrangers : celui des Blancs et celui des Noirs.

Aussi disponible en format numerique et large vision.

8

The skin we're in : a year of Black resistance and power
Cole, Desmond
Paper Book
In the tradition of Ta-Nehisi Coates, a bracing, provocative and perspective-shifting book from one of Canada's most celebrated and uncompromising writers, Desmond Cole. The Skin We're In will spark a national conversation, influence policy and inspire activists.

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

9

Queenie : a novel
Carty-Williams, Candice
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019 BY WOMAN'S DAY, NEWSDAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, BUSTLE, AND BOOK RIOT! "[B]rilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking." --Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You<...
Also available in Audiobook and eBook formats.

10

Butter honey pig bread : a novel
Ekwuyasi, Francesca
Paper Book
Spanning three continents, Butter Honey Pig Bread tells the interconnected stories of three Nigerian women: Kambirinachi and her twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye. Kambirinachi believes that she is an Ogbanje, or an Abiku, a non-human spirit that plagues a family with misfortune by being born and...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

11

Petit pays : roman /
Faye, Gael, 1982-
Paper Book

Burundi, 1992. Gabriel a dix ans et vit dans un confortable quartier d'expatries avec son pere francais entrepreneur, sa mere rwandaise et sa petite soeur Ana. Alors que le jeune garcon voit ses parents se separer, la guerre civile se profile et, par vagues successives, la violence envahit le quartier.

12

Petit pays : roman /
Faye, Gael, 1982-
Paper Book
Also available in eBook format.

13

King and the dragonflies
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book! Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature! Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry! In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

14

Yesterday is history. [online electronic book]
Jackson, Kosoko.
Ebook

15

Until we are free : reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada
Diverlus, Rodney
Paper Book
Short-listed, Saskatchewan Book Award, Publishing, 2020 The killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 by a white assailant inspired the Black Lives Matter movement, which quickly spread outside the borders of the United States. The movement's message found fertile ground in Canada, where...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

16

Even though I knew the end
Polk, C. L.
Paper Book
A USA Today Bestseller! Winner of the Nebula Award! Finalist for the Hugo Award! Finalist for the World Fantasy Award! A New York Times Best Romance of 2022! C. L. Polk turns their...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author

17

The sleeping car porter
Mayr, Suzette
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD WINNER OF THE 2022 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2023 GEORGES BUGNET AWARD FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE 2023 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FICTION PUBLISHERS WEEKLY...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats, and as a Book Club Kit.

Canadian author.

18

Finding Edward
Murray, Sheila.
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award Longlisted for the Toronto Book Awards Longlisted for Canada Reads 2023 A Globe and Mail Best Book Cyril Rowntree migrates to Toronto from Jamaica in 2012. Managing a precarious balance of work and university he begins to...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

19

Dans le ventre du Congo
Ndala, Blaise
Paper Book

Dans le ventre du Congo raconte l'histoire de la princesse Tshala Nyota Moelo, qui s'affranchit des codes d'une des plus prestigieuses monarchies du Congo precolonial. Seduite par un jeune colon belge, elle finira dans le dernier zoo humain de l'Europe. Nous voila plonges au coeur du « village congolais » de l'Exposition universelle et internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, ou l'on retrouve l'oeuvre coloniale dans toute son ignominie.

Aussi dispoinble en format numerique.

Auteure canadienne.

20

The son of the house
Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, Cheluchi
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2021 * WINNER of the Nigeria Prize for Literature 2021 * SHORTLISTED for the Chinua Achebe Prize for Nigerian Writing 2021 * WINNER of the SprinNG Women Authors Prize 2020 * WINNER of the Best International Fiction Book Award, Sharjah International Book...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

21

In the Belly of the Congo
Ndala, Blaise
Paper Book
A sweeping historical novel and an intergenerational family saga about the mysterious disappearance of a Congolese princess and the niece who is determined to uncover her fate more than four decades later, by the internationally acclaimed and award-winning Congolese Canadian author Blaise Ndala.<...

Canadian author.

22

In the Upper Country: A Novel
Thomas, Kai
Paper Book
*NATIONAL BESTSELLER* *WINNER OF THE 2023 WRITER'S TRUST ATWOOD GIBSON PRIZE* SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOVERNER GENERAL'S AWARD FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE ...

Also available in eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

Canadian author.

23

Cool. Awkward. Black
Strong, Karen
Paper Book
Real or imaginary, geekdom is where it's at in this multi-genre YA anthology that celebrates "the geek," with stories by some of today's top bestselling, critically acclaimed Black authors. Contributors include Amerie, Kalynn Bayron, Terry J. Benton-Walker, Roseanne A. Brown,...
Also available in eBook format.

24

Ain't burned all the bright [sound recording (CD)] /
Reynolds, Jason
Audiobook
Also available in eBook format.

25

I've been meaning to tell you : a letter to my daughter
Chariandy, David
Paper Book
In the tradition of Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, acclaimed novelist David Chariandy's latest is an intimate and profoundly beautiful meditation on the politics of race today....

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats, and as a Book Club Kit.

Canadian author.

26

Between the world and me /
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NAMED ONE OF TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST * ONE OF OPRAH'S "BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH" * NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT...

« Voila ce qu'il faut que tu saches : en Amerique, la destruction du corps noir est une tradition, un heritage. Je ne voudrais pas que tu te couches dans un reve. Je voudrais que tu sois un citoyen de ce monde beau et terrible a la fois, un citoyen conscient. J'ai decide de ne rien te cacher. ». Dans cette lettre adressée a son fils de 15 ans, Ta-Nehisi Coates revient sur la condition de l'homme noir aux Etats-Unis. Une ode a l'humanite, un cri de colere contre ce mal qui gangrene la societe americaine depuis des siecles.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

27

Out of the sun : on race and storytelling
Edugyan, Esi
Paper Book
An insightful exploration and moving meditation on identity, art, and belonging from one of the most celebrated writers of the last decade.  What happens when we begin to consider stories at the margins, when we grant them centrality? How does that complicate our certainties about who...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

28

Black writers matter. [online electronic book]
NULL
Ebook
Also available in eBook format.

29

They said this would be fun : race, campus life, and growing up
Martis, Eternity
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A powerful, moving memoir about what it's like to be a student of colour on a predominantly white campus. A booksmart kid from Toronto, Eternity Martis was excited to move away to Western University for her undergraduate degree. But as one of the...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

30

Shame on me : an anatomy of race and belonging
McWatt, Tessa
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FOR NON-FICTION   Interrogating our ideas of race through the lens of her own multi-racial identity, critically acclaimed novelist Tessa McWatt turns her eye on herself, her body and this world in a powerful new work of non-fiction...

Also available on eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

31

The vanishing half
Bennett, Brit
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE * VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR New York Times<...
Also available in eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

32

Disorientation : being Black in the world
Williams, Ian
Paper Book
A FINALIST FOR THE 2021 HILARY WESTON WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION   Bestselling, Scotiabank Giller Award-winning writer Ian Williams brings fresh eyes and new insights to today's urgent conversation on race and racism in startling, illuminating essays that grow out...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

33

I am amazing!
Holder, Alissa
Paper Book
From the authors and illustrator of I Am Smart, I Am Blessed, I Can Do Anything! comes another story about the always-inspiring Ayaan! Amazing Ayaan loves being a superhero--he helps a friend who has fallen on the playground, gives pushes on the swings, and offers a boost...
Also available in eBook format.

34

Black girl rising
Barnes, Brynne
Paper Book
This enduring anthem for Black girls celebrates their power, potential, and brilliance--for themselves and for the world. You are a thousand curls unfurling in your hair. You are a thousand fists standing proudly in air. You are the song of...
Also available in eBook format.

35

Black girls
Furukawa, Dominique
Paper Book
A joyful love letter to every Black girl everywhere. In an upbeat and rhythmic ode, Dominique Furukawa and Erika Lynne Jones celebrate Black girls in all their beauty and joy. Black Girls uplifts girls of every shade, size, and walk of life, reminding them that they are perfectly...

36

Africville
Grant, Shauntay
Paper Book
Winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award Winner of the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration Finalist for a Governor General's Literary Award, Young People's Literature - Illustrated Books Finalist for a Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Books...
Canadian author.

37

Africville.
Grant, Shauntay
Paper Book
Winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award Winner of the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration Finalist for a Governor General's Literary Award, Young People's Literature - Illustrated Books Finalist for a Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Books...

Au cours d'une visite au lieu historique d'Africville a Halifax, en Nouvelle-Ecosse, une jeune fille se rememore toutes les histoires qu'elle a entendues raconter dans sa famille. A quoi la communaute ressemblait-elle autrefois? A la fin de sa reverie, la jeune fille s'arrete devant le cadran solaire ou le nom de son arriere-grand-mere est grave dans la pierre, puis va rejoindre sa famille aux retrouvailles annuelles d'Africville.

Auteure canadienne.

38

Akim Aliu: Dreamer (Original Graphic Memoir)
Paper Book
This honest, engrossing graphic memoir tells the story of professional athlete and activist Akim Aliu's incredible life as a hockey prodigy in Canada. Akim Aliu -- also known as "Dreamer" -- is a Nigerian born, Ukrainian Canadian professional hockey player whose career took him all around the...

39

Invaincus
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
See below for English description. C'est pour les inoubliables. Ceux qui n'ont pas peur. Ceux qui sont invaincus. Dans ce livre à la fois touchant et puissant, l'auteur à succès Kwame Alexander et l'illustrateur Kadir Nelson, récipiendaire de la médaille Caldecott, nous...

40

Harriet Tubman : freedom fighter
Hohn, Nadia L.
Paper Book
Learn about the inspiring life of Harriet Tubman in this early reader biography. This I Can Read book is an excellent choice to share in the classroom or at home. Harriet Tubman was a brave woman who was born enslaved in Maryland in the 1800s. After risking everything to escape from...

Canadian author.

41

I color myself different. [online electronic book]
Kaepernick, Colin, 1987-
Ebook

42

Viola Desmond won't be budged. [online electronic book]
Warner, Jody, 1969-
Ebook
Canadian author.

43

Viola Desmond won't be budged. [online electronic book]
Warner, Jody, 1969-
Ebook

Auteure canadienne.

44

Le grain de sable : Olivier Le Jeune, premier esclave au Canada
Webster (Rapper)
Paper Book

Originaire de l'ile de Madagascar, Olivier Le Jeune arrive dans la ville de Quebec en 1629 en tant qu'esclave. Il avait 10 ans. Au-dela de son statut d'esclave, il est la premiere personne d'origine africaine a habiter de maniere permanente au Canada.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

Auteur canadien.


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